Tag Archives: children’s crafts

OK, you may have noticed an increasing amount of cool stuff populating our shops over recent weeks. (If not, why not? What are you waiting for, an invitation from the Queen? Sheesh!) But there is one special creation of ours that you won’t be able to pick up online. You can’t even buy them in person at one of our craft stalls. Nope. None for you. I’m talking about these beauties:

“But, why?”, you ask. “I also wish to be a sweet and funky non-conformist type cheerleader person.” Well, it’s because this particular piece of awesomeness was an extremely limited edition, designed especially for this sewing-machine-snogging-vixen.

We’re not here to judge.

But don’t worry. We’re not entirely heartless. (Actually, I am, but lucky for you Jacqui isn’t.) We won’t sell you any, but we will tell you how to make them yourself and delight any small munchkins who happen to share your home.

It all happened kind of like this: It was late summer, and in the run up to #wedstival2012, me and the guys were churning out miles of bunting like this:

We worked around the clock, tying bunting until our hands were sore and eventually we were lashing together any random bits of fabric we encountered. Every surface in my house was layered in piles of fabric strips, so much so that random cats were inviting themselves in to sleep on them.

Around that time, Sheri (our bloggy bff from Awesomesauce and Asshattery) sent us a “cheer up” package of personalized T-shirts with our logo (also by Sheri) and names (we already had those) in sparkly, bosom-enhancing print!

Behold: The Sparkle Bosom.(Jacqui really is going to kill me this time!)

I thought it was really amazing that we had happened across this Canadian expat powerhouse in Germany who was cheering us on with all the energy of a birthday party full of cake-high 4-year-olds. I remember asking Sheri if they had cheerleaders in Germany, and being really disappointed when she said no. In my sleep-deprived state, the idea of angry German-accented cheerleaders really tickled me.

Cheerleader: “Und now you vill give me un ‘A’!”

Crowd: “Yikes, ok. A! Just stop yelling.”

And somewhere around my eleventeenth cup of coffee, my mission revealed itself: There would be a cheerleader in Germany. But how? Luckily, my youngest was “helping Mummy” at the time.

And I realized that we were already surrounded by the makings of a kick-arsch cheerleader set. This is how we did it.

1. Cut strips of fabric around 2 feet long. (or twice the length you want the finished pom poms to be.) We used fabrics of different colours and textures for added sensory appeal. Lay the strips together in a pile.

2. Use a thin ribbon to gather your fabric strips in the middle, and tie the ribbon in a knot.

3. Grab a nearby candlestick.

4. Make sure it is the kind that is hollow through the middle.

5. Thread the ribbon through the candlestick from bottom to top.

6. Thread the ribbon through some pretty beads, to prevent it slipping back through the candlestick. Secure with a knot.

7. Submit the finished item to your quality control team for vigorous testing.

8. Optional Wait until quality control team is sleeping before sneaking the finished product into a box and posting to Germany.

And there you have it: a sweet surprise that will enchant budding cheerleaders everywhere. And for extra fun, check out A Couple of Craft Addicts Scrap Skirt tutorial and make one of these to go with it:

Get Scrap Busting! (Oh, and if you see copies of these projects floating around Etsy in a few months time, do feel free to link to this post and taunt the vendors about their super-original ideas! Hee Hee Hee…)

Seeing as we’re in party mode (in the UK at least) we’ve added to our Custom Workshops and Parties Page to include even more fun and games for all ages and abilities! If you’re located in the East of England and fancy a more eco-friendly birthday for your kids or a crafty get-together with mates, check us out! Here’s a printable flyer you can pass on to your mates. Ok, now you can get back to watching The Apprentice final and celebrating the Jubilee!